FNPS Plant Database

Illicium floridanum

Florida anise
  • Photo by: Shirley Denton, Suncoast Chapter FNPS

Nomenclature

Common Name:

Florida anise

Synonym(s):

Genus species:

Illicium floridanum

Family:

Illiciaceae

Plant Specifics

Form:

shrub

Size:

15 ft tall by 8 ft wide

Life Span:

Long-lived perennial

Flower Color:

red

Fruit Color:

Brown

Phenology:

Evergreen. Blooms in spring. Fruits ripen in fall.

Noted For:

Showy Flowers, Interesting Foliage

Landscaping

Recommended Uses:

Screen or specimen plant in shady wet settings.

Considerations:

Availability:

Quality Nurseries, Native Nurseries

Propagation:

Light:

Shade

Moisture Tolerance:

Always Flooded------------------------------------------------Extremely Dry

Coming Soon!

Usually moist, occasional inundation ---to--- Not wet but not extremely dry

Salt Water Flooding Tolerance:

Unknown

Salt Spray/Salty Soil Tolerance:

Low/no tolerance of salty wind or direct salt spray

Soil or Other Substrate:

Sand, Loam

Soil pH:

Acidic to neutral

Suitable to Grow In:

8A,8B,9A,9B

USDA zones are based on the average annual extreme minimum winter temperature.



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Ecology

Wildlife:

Pollinators

Pollinated by a variety of insects, especially native flies and beetles.

Native Habitats:

Slope forest, floodplain forest, hydric hammocks, seep stream (banks), steepheads.

Natural Range in Florida:

Comments:

Ethnobotany:

General Comments:

The distribution mimics the distribution of steepheads, a stream/valley system that originates in a very steep-headed ravine where the water seeps out of the ground to form a stream, and the headwall gradually moves uphill due to the water exiting the ground undermining it.  

Citations:

https://www.wildflower.org/literature/show.php?id=1385



Haehle, Robert G. and Joan Brookwell.  1999.  Native Florida Plants.  Gulf Publishing Company.  Houston, TX.



Nelson, Gil.  2003.  Florida's Best Landscape Plants. Association of Florida Native Nurseries.



Wunderlin, R. P., B. F. Hansen, A. R. Franck, and F. B. Essig. 2021. Atlas of Florida Plants (http://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/).  Institute for Systematic Botany, University of South Florida, Tampa.

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